System and method for generating, capturing, and managing customer lead information over a computer network

ABSTRACT

A customer lead management system that relates to a system and method for collecting and organizing customer-marketing data, which is then made available to business representatives to assess. Specifically, using a computer network and, data on a potential customer&#39;s Budget, Authority, Needs, Timeline, and other related customer lead data is collected. After this data is collected the customer lead management system stores the customer lead data and ranks the viability of the customer based on the interest level of the customer lead and other variable criteria. The resulting customer lead profile is then stored in a database. The customer lead data is then capable of being accessed via a computer network by various companies that have goods/services that satisfy the needs and requirements of the customer lead. A company representative can be automatically notified when a customer lead profile has been updated.

[0001] This application is a continuation of my co-pending applicationSer. No. 09/031,443, filed Feb. 26, 1998, the disclosure of which ishereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention relates to a web-based system and methodfor using a computer network for generating, capturing, analyzing,storing, disseminating, and managing customer lead data. Specifically,the present invention is directed toward processing customer lead datawhich includes the following types of information: contact data, datarelating to the needs of the customer, and the customer's interests.Additionally, the present invention manages customer purchase orqualification information, known as BANT data, which includesinformation relating to Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeframe of thecustomer. The present invention captures this data and distributes itvia a computer network to the appropriate company representative,preferably via a cryptographically secure web-interface. Further, thepresent invention allows management to track the progress of eachspecific customer lead, including data relating to the customer's needs,and the customer's request for specific product/service information. Asa result, the present invention allows the company that is offering itsgoods/services to the customer to monitor its customer relationshipsdevelopment, so as to improve its product development, its business andmarketing strategies, and its customer's satisfaction with the business'goods or services.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Typically, sales, marketing and customer service personnel usecomputers to track customer lead data such as: prospective customercontacts, needs, interests, purchase potential, and satisfactioninformation in computerized databases and spreadsheets. However, theneed to access, distribute and manage this information by many differentindividuals or entities that were not in the same geographic locationpresents a problem. People could not access this customer lead databecause they did not have the same software program, did not know how touse the software program, or could not read the lead data. Furthermore,the customer lead data was not in a consistent format, so progress onthe customer lead could not be tracked. Because of the system'sinability to track a customer lead, lead data that had become obsoletewas not updated, and a company's resources were then wasted on “dead”leads. In addition, numerous companies distribute customer lead data bysending originals or copies of business cards or handwritten “leadsheets” in the company's interoffice mail which are either lost orillegible and as a result, are not followed up on.

[0004] With the advent of the Internet, companies/sellers are promotingtheir products and services on their web sites and prospective customerscontact the company via e-mail, phone or fax to request additionalinformation regarding a company's goods or services. Trade shows,business events, and one-on-one sales meetings usually provide abusiness with the lowest rate of return on investment. This is primarilydue to the fact that there is no system in place on the floor of thetrade show or event to capture, qualify, distribute, and manage customerlead data. As a result, the company selling the goods or services isunable to provide the customer with requested information regarding theproduct or service sought by the customer.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to provide a web-basedsystem and method of using a computer network for generating, capturing,analyzing, storing, disseminating, and managing potential customer orlead data via a computer network. Thus, the present invention allows theuser to input, access and collect customer lead information via apersonal computer, or any other similar data acquisition/transmissiondevice that is capable of accessing a computer network. When a companyrepresentative is using the present invention, the user is also able toreceive automatic updates of new potential customer leads as thecustomer lead data is entered into a customer lead database, either by asales representative or a customer. Additionally, the present inventionaccommodates potential customers who are attending trade shows that haveidentification cards that contain a unique code corresponding to eachcustomer. Once the card is scanned, the present invention uploads thedata to the lead management database. As the company/seller collectscustomer lead data, the present invention allows the business to developcustomer profiles that are based on the customer lead data. Theseprofiles may include the business's customer contact information, thecustomer's specified needs, specified interests, and the customer'spurchase potential.

[0006] Additionally, the needs that the customer lead has specified aresynchronized with the products or services in the lead managementdatabase. Here, the present invention matches the customer'sproduct/service need requirements to the products and services that thecompany or its business partners provide. As a result, the company'srepresentative is automatically apprised of the match between customerand company/seller. The present invention also allows a business torespond to customer requests by sending product and service informationin an e-mail to the inquiring customer. In addition, the presentinvention allows the user to determine customer lead priority and mayinclude information regarding the customer's BANT (Budget, Authority,Need, and Timeframe) purchase potential information, and can calculatethe level of priority needed. Furthermore, the business using thepresent invention can access the customer lead information immediatelyupon the lead data being stored in the lead management database.Finally, the present invention allows the business to track performance,respond to customer needs or inquiries, via the computer network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007]FIG. 1 is a schematic drawing illustrating the functionality ofthe components of the present invention.

[0008]FIG. 2 is a chart that illustrates a sample customer feedback formthat is accessed by a customer lead via a computer network.

[0009]FIG. 3 is a chart that illustrates a sample lead management formthat is used by the seller of goods/services to input lead qualificationinformation (BANT data) and product and/or service interest information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0010] An embodiment of the customer lead management system 10 isillustrated in FIG. 1. In one embodiment, the customer lead managementsystem 10 is designed to capture and store customer lead and customerneeds data concerning particular products and/or services using realtime database synchronization for multiple end-users on a computernetwork. This system is for tracking the progress of prospective buyer“leads” into buying customers and following up to ensure customers aresatisfied and remain customers. (In marketing terms, this is calledcustomer acquisition and retention.)

[0011] Customer lead 12 may access the business's web site 14 via aconnection on a computer network such as the Internet using a personalcomputer, or any other type of similar device, capable of accessing acomputer network. Once the customer lead 12 accesses the company's website 14, the customer lead 12 proceeds to view various marketingpromotions that the business has created. Upon selecting a desiredmarketing promotion, the customer lead 12 has two main methods in whichhe can request additional information regarding the desired product orservice. The customer lead 12 can also request additional information atthe end of the customer needs feedback form 18 (See 116 in FIG. 2). Thefirst method in which a customer lead 12 can request additionalinformation is by sending an e-mail message to the designated seller's(company representative 20) e-mail address 16 requesting the additionalproduct/service information. The specific nature or content of therequest is detected automatically by web administrative software and theappropriate response is e-mailed back to the lead or customer lead 12.This response back to the customer lead 12 may be comprised of an e-mailtext message or an e-mail text message with a file attachment containingan “e-brochure” or “e-collateral.” An “e-brochure” or “e-collateral”contains information relating to the products or services that thecompany is promoting and allows the customer lead 12 to print theinformation out at his or her local printer. The second method acustomer lead 12 can use to respond to a business's marketing promotionis to fill out a customer needs/feedback form 18, illustrated in FIG. 2,and is linked to the promotional marketing offer, located on thecompany's corporate (Internet) web site 14.

[0012]FIG. 2 is a sample form that illustrates the components of asample customer needs/feedback form 18. The questions on this form 18are designed to be incorporated into a virtual reality activity or aregular CGI script form, which can be integrated into thecompany/seller's existing Internet web site 14 and linked to theseller's Lead Management Intranet site 22 (See 34 in FIG. 1). This form18 could be a fun game-type virtual reality activity to be integratedinto an existing Internet web site and linked to a Lead ManagementIntranet site 34. This is to give a complete picture of how the companycan help the customer. It becomes possible to match what the customerlead 12 indicates they really want or need to the solutions the companyrepresentative says the customer lead 12 is interested in to provide atotal solution. This form 18 is designed to be filled-out by thecustomer lead 12 and should be needs oriented, in contrast to the LeadManagement Form 24, 26, which is designed to be filled out by thecompany representative 20 and is qualifications and solutions oriented.These two forms 12 and 24, 26 are linked to form a lead profile record32 in the lead management database 44 and will be accessible via thelead management intranet site 34. The first field that the customer leadis prompted to enter information into is entitled Marketing Information60. The user has the option of entering text or selecting a check box toindicate his or her desired selection. Specifically the customer lead 12is prompted to answer the question “How did the customer lead come toknow of the business?” 62 The customer lead 12 is given the option ofseveral answers that he or she may select that include: by publishedarticle, by published advertisement, by direct mail invitation, bye-mail invitation, by internet web site, or by other. The customer lead12 is further prompted to answer “How did the particular promotionalmethod make the customer want to come the meeting, campaign event, orweb site?” 64. A list 64 a of possible choices is presented to thecustomer lead 12 to select from. The customer lead 12 is also promptedfor contact information 66 including his or her first name 68, last name70, the customer's title or position 72, job responsibilities 74,company name 76, type of business 78, e-mail address 80, internetaddress 82, street address 84, city 86, country 88, state 90, zip code92, customer's telephone number 94, fax number 96, mobile phone number98, and pager number 100. The next section that the customer lead 12must enter data into on the customer needs/feedback web page 18 isentitled “Needs/Solutions Information” 102. In this section 102, thecustomer lead 12 will be required to rank specific attributes of thebusiness's products or services based on importance to the customer lead12. After all of the preceding data is entered by the customer lead 12,the Customer Needs/Feedback form 18 prompts the customer lead 12 with aseries of targeted questions 104 that allow the customer lead managementsystem 10 to compute a solution to the customer lead's 12 problem.Furthermore, for the sample customer needs/feedback form 18, thecustomer lead management system 10 computes a monetary amount 106 thatthe customer lead 12 may be losing by not employing the company's goodsor services. After the feedback form 18 has selected an optimizedsolution to the customer lead's 12 problem, the customer lead managementsystem lists a range of potential product/service solutions that thecustomer lead 12 may be interested in. The customer lead 12 is promptedto select the goods or services that it desires to view 108. Thecustomer lead 12 is also prompted to provide an explanation 108 a ofwhat the selected products/services do for him. Additionally, thefeedback form 18 provides the customer lead 12 with the ability tocomment on the company's products and services in the comments/feedbacksection 110. Finally, the customer feedback form 18 provides thecustomer lead 12 with a series of options 112 that allows the customerlead 12 to choose a particular course of action regarding the business'sgoods and services. These options 112, include the ability of thecustomer lead 12 to request to ask the company questions regarding theits offered goods and services 114. If the customer lead 12 selects thisoption 114, a company representative 20 is automatically notified withthe customer lead's request via e-mail or by a pop-up window via theLead Management Intranet 22. The customer lead 12 may also requestdetailed information or brochures 116. If the customer lead 12 selectsthis option, collateral web pages from the company's Internet site 14appear allowing customer to have the product/service documentatione-mailed, faxed, or printed out for the customer lead 12, locally ondemand. The customer lead 12 can also select to view a specific solutionin action 118. If the customer lead 12 selects this option 118,collateral web pages from the company's Internet site 14 appear allowingthe customer lead 12 to select which product or service the customerlead 12 would like to view an online video clip of. Additionally, if thecustomer lead 12 is attending a trade show, the company representative20 could demonstrate the product or service for the customer lead 12 inperson. The customer lead 12 may also select to schedule an offsitemeeting 120. If this option 120 is selected, the customer lead 12 isconnected to Lotus Notes Calendar and the appropriate companyrepresentative 20 will be automatically notified, by e-mail or anon-screen message alert, of the customer lead's 12 desire to schedule ameeting. The final option that the customer lead 12 is provided with isa promotional offer from the company 122. If the customer lead selectsthis option 122, the appropriate company representative 20 that deals inthe specified goods or services is automatically notified by an e-mailmessage or pop up computer screen messages via the lead managementintranet 22. The last item on the customer needs/feedback form 18 is thename of the solutions/account executive 124, the title of the executive126, telephone number 128, fax number 130, pager number 132, e-mailaddress 134, and Internet address 136 of the executive.

[0013] Alternatively, the company representative 20 can enter customerlead data into one of the lead management forms 24, 26 (a sample form24, 26 is shown in FIG. 3) as he or she is engaging a potential customerlead 12 in a conversation. Lead management form 24 is a web based formand lead management form 26 can be used when the company representative20 is using a portable computer. The form content may be similar forboth forms 24, 26 or form 26 may be condensed and reformatted toaccommodate the smaller screen of a portable device such as an IBMWorkpad®. In a trade show scenario or any one-on-one interpersonalcontact scenario, it would be more advantageous if the customer lead 12filled out the Customer Needs Feedback form 18 before he talks to theseller or company representative 20, however this is not required.Furthermore, by allowing the company to have access to the customer lead12 information, it allows the company representative 20 to initiate apersonalized conversation such as: “Hi, my name is Ed. Glad to meet youJohn Doe. Let me pull up your profile . . . ”. The seller or companyrepresentative 20 can then type in the person's name and search the leadmanagement database 44 for their name. If the customer lead's 12 profileappears, then the seller or company representative 20 can talkintelligently about what goods/services that the customer lead 12indicated they needed. If the customer lead's profile does not appear,then the seller or company representative 20 can enter the customerlead's contact, needs, product/service interests and marketing campaigninformation, what brought them to the web site or event, etc. data intothe Customer Needs Feedback form 18 as the representative 20 proceeds totalk with the customer or while showing the product/servicefeatures/benefits to the customer lead 12. During or at the end of themeeting, with the customer, the company representative 20 can then inputthe data needed for the Lead Management form 24, 26. If a mobile deviceis used, such as an IBM Workpad®, then the input by the companyrepresentative 20 could be entered into 26 during the customer lead 12engagement/interaction. If a Customer Needs/Feedback form 18 has beenfilled out completely, the company representative 20 will not have toenter any other type of information except for Campaign/EventInformation 152, Qualification or BANT information 174, SolutionsInformation 342 and Follow-Up Information 352.

[0014] In order for the company representative 20 to access and inputcustomer data into the sample lead data form 24, 26 illustrated in FIG.3, the seller/company representative 20 accesses the company's Intranetsite 22 by entering a security code or password to access the seller'svirtual private network or intranet for the lead management database 44.The company representative 20 may access the lead management Intranetsite 22 in a variety of ways that include using a personal computer, orany other device that is capable of transmitting and receiving data viaa computer network. The company representative 20 may or may notphysically be at a trade show, business event or at another one-on-onekind of interpersonal meeting with customer leads 12. The seller orcompany representative 20 accesses the lead management form 24, 26illustrated on FIG. 3 on any of the following mobile telecomputingsystems and proceeds to ask the lead or customer for answers to thequestions on the lead management form, which include contact, productand/or services interest, and BANT information, solutions,campaign/event, follow-up/tracking, marketing awareness, etc.:

[0015] Microcassette recorder

[0016] Portable computer

[0017] Digital portable dictation system with voice recognition software

[0018] Hand-held electronic input device

[0019] Business card, identification card, or trade show badge scanner.

[0020] With a microcassette recorder, the company representative 20records the customer lead 12 information and later plays the recorderinto a digital recorder program such as Media Player, saves therecording as a WAVE file (.WAV) and imports it into any word processingprogram. The customer lead 12 information is then saved as an HTML fileand published to the Lead Management Intranet Site 22 (WordPro™ allowsthe publication of documents directly to an Internet site if you haveaccess to a POP server) or copied to a Lotus Domino-enabled, LotusNotes® Workroom for distribution, follow-up and tracking. A customerrepresentative 20 can access the .WAV file, listen to the responses andinput the responses into the lead management form 24, 26 and customerneeds feedback form 18.

[0021] When using a portable computer, if the portable computer hasvoice recognition software, the company representative 20 runs the voicerecognition software, such as ViaVoice®, in a background session, whilerunning a marketing campaign/event or demo/presentation on the activeportable computer session. The company representative 20 plugs in theViaVoice® headset into the portable computer and can talk into it afterthe demo/presentation or to record responses to the lead management form24, 26 and customer needs feedback form 18. The company representative20 can then switch to ViaVoice® to record what the customer lead 12 saysabout the demo/presentation. If the portable computer hasinternet/intranet access, the company representative 20 enters theinformation into the online Lead Management Form 26 or customer needsfeedback form 18, if necessary on the Lead Management Intranet 22.Passwords for company representatives 20 can be assigned according tosales territory, need to know, etc. If the marketing campaign, event,demonstration or presentation is on a portable computer with networkaccess such as the Internet and the computer has voice recognitionfunctionality, these two tasks can be performed simultaneously.

[0022] When using a digital portable dictation system, the companyrepresentative 20 talks into the digital portable dictation system, suchas the Digital Portable Dictation System co-produced by IBM and Olympuswith ViaVoice® speech recognition speech-to-text conversion software,during product demonstrations and paraphrases the thoughts that thecustomer lead 12 speaks during the demonstration to record how thecustomer lead 12 responded to what he heard and saw and to recordresponses to the lead management form 24, 26 and customer needs feedbackform 18. To transfer the information into Lotus Notes®, the convertedrecorded information is saved in any word processing program as an ASCIItext file (.TXT) or rich text format (.RTF). The file contents are thencopied to a Lotus Notes® Workroom named the MarketingCampaign/Eventroom. To transfer the information into the Lead ManagementIntranet Site 22, the converted recorded information is saved as an HTMLfile. Next, the HTML file is published by using a Publish to Internetfeature in a program such as WordPro™ to the Lead Management Web Site 22or is copied to a Lotus-Domino-enabled Lotus Notes® Workroom fordistribution, follow-up and tracking.

[0023] With a hand-held electronic input device, such as an IBM WorkPad®or a PalmPilot®, the customer representative 20 enters the customerlead's 12 responses into a customized lead management form 26 that isessentially the same as the Lead Management Form 24, only customized toaccommodate a smaller display screen. If the hand-held electronic inputdevice is Internet ready, the information can be hot-synced andtransmitted electronically to the Lead Management Intranet site 22 inreal time. If the device is not Internet ready, the information is savedon the device as an ASCII text file (.TXT) or a rich text format file(.RTF). The file contents are then copied to a Lotus Notes® WorkroomMarketing Campaign/Eventroom. To transfer the information into the LeadManagement Intranet Site 22, the entered information is saved as an HTMLfile. Next, the HTML file is published by using a Publish to Internetfeature in a program such as WordPro™ to the Lead Management Web Site 22or is copied to a Lotus-Domino-enabled Lotus Notes® Workroom fordistribution, follow-up and tracking.

[0024] Finally, the company representative 20 can enter customer lead 12information from a business card using an electronic business cardscanning device, such as Card Scan®, or from an identification card suchas a trade show visitor badge with a magnetic stripe , bar code, orother form of encoded information using an appropriate scanner. Thescanned information is later uploaded or transmitted electronically tothe Intranet site 34 using forms software such as that which comes withCard Scan® or other scanners.

[0025] Next, FIG. 3 illustrates the lead management form 24, 26 of thecustomer lead management system 10 and the information concerning thecustomer lead 12 that is entered by the company representative 20. Thefirst section of the lead management form 24, 26 is entitledCampaign/Event Information 152. This section is adapted by the companyin accordance with its marketing promotions and campaign events.Specifically, this information comprises the name 154, date 156,location 158, type 160, and demographics 162 information that relate tothe marketing campaign and event. Additionally, the companyrepresentative 20 is prompted to specify if the event will be a tradeshow or other type of event 164. If the event is a trade show thecompany representative 20 is further prompted to enter informationrelating to the booth presentation schedule 166, speaker sessionschedule 168, the social events that are taking place at the trade show170, and any other activities that a customer lead 12 can be involved in172.

[0026] The next section of the lead management form 24, 26 is entitledQualification Information 174, requires the company representative 20 toenter his or her name to indicate the name of the person who is fillingout the form 176, and the date on which the form 24, 26 is being filledout 178. The following paragraphs define BANT, Budget, Authority, Needand Timeframe.

[0027] Budget

[0028] In this section 174, the company representative 20 is prompted toanswer several questions that relate to the budget 180 of the customerlead 12. Specifically, the company representative 20 is required toselect from a series of check boxes that describe the fundingcharacteristics of the customer lead 12, which include “This projectwill not get funding” 182; “Funding will not be applied for or thebudget would be insufficient for the solution” 184; “Funding will beapplied for and/or the budget size may be sufficient for the solution”186; “Funding has been applied for and/or the size of the budget may besufficient for the solution” 188; “Funding has been accepted but theamount has not been defined and/or the budget size is sufficient for thesolution” 190; and “A defined amount of money is allocated and acceptedto be used to fund this project and/or the budget size is sufficient forthe solution” 192, and the company representative 20 then enters thedefined amount 193.

[0029] Authority

[0030] The company representative 20 is next prompted to enterinformation relating to what kind of authority the customer lead 12 has194. The company representative 20 is required to choose from a list,the business role, signature authority, or financial decision makingattributes that most resemble that of the customer lead 12.Specifically, these attributes include: “This person (customer lead) isnot involved or has no influence with the project” 196; “This person(customer lead) is an important person, but he/she is not involved inthe project” 198; “This person (customer lead) is involved with theproject, but is not an influencer” 200; “This person (customer lead) isa main technical/business influencer” 202; “This person (customer lead)is preparing the request for proposal/requirements” 204; or “This person(customer lead) is a decision-maker” 206.

[0031] Needs

[0032] The company representative 20 is next required to select from alist of attributes that most closely characterizes the specific needs208 of that customer lead 12. Specifically, the company representative20 may select from the following characterizations: “This person doesnot have a need” 210; “This person is not aware of the problem and isproposing a solution” 212; “This person has identified a potentialproblem, but has not identified a problem scope or requirements” 214;“This person has identified a potential problem, but has not identifiedits full scope or requirements” 216; “This person recognizes a problemand has defined some of the requirements” 218; and “This personrecognizes a problem and has defined all requirements” 220.Additionally, if the customer lead 12 had defined requirements and thecompany representative 20 checked this last item 220, a checkboxbulleted list could be provided to assist the company representative 20in filling in the defined requirements.

[0033] Timeframe

[0034] The next set of information that the company representative 20 isrequired to submit relates to the time frame 222 for a purchasingdecision on the part of the of the person (customer lead 12). Thecompany representative 20 is prompted to select from a list ofattributes, the characteristics that most closely resemble the expectedtime frame of the customer lead 12. Specifically, the companyrepresentative 20 can select from the following attributes whichinclude: “The project will not be executed” 224; “This person is notready to decide and has not identified a time frame for the decision.”226; “This person is not ready to decide and has identified a time frameoutside of the next 12 months” 228; “This person is not ready to decide,but has determined a decision date.” 230. For this attribute 230, theuser is further prompted to select a decision date from a list thatcomprises the following selections: “Next few weeks” 232; “Next fewmonths” 234; “Next year” 236; and “Next few years” 238. The nextattribute that the company representative 20 may select is “This personis ready to decide and has a general time frame” 240. For thisattribute, the user is further required to select from the followingselections: “Next few weeks” 242; “Next few months” 244; “Next year”246; and “Next few years” 248. The final attribute that the companyrepresentative 20 can select is “This person is ready to decide and hasspecific time frame dates” 250. If the company representative 20 selectsthis attribute 250, the time frame dates must be specified by inputtingthem into the “Specify time frame dates” field 252.

[0035] After all of the questions relating to budget 180, authority 194,needs 208, and time frame 222 of the customer lead 12 are answered, aBANT score 254 is calculated in real time and displayed immediately.This BANT score 254 is used to determine the customer lead 12 priorityon the Follow-up/Tracking section of the form and will be used todetermine what type of follow-up approach the company representative 20will pursue with respect to the customer lead 12.

[0036] The next category of information that the lead management formrequests is directed to Marketing Information 256. The first question258 in this field prompts the company representative 20 to select howthe customer lead 12 came to know of the company. The companyrepresentative 20 enters the information relating to how the customerlead 12 came to know of the company by selecting one or more of thefollowing responses that include: “Published article (specifypublication)” 260; “Published advertisement (specify publication)” 262;“Direct Mail Invitation” 264; “E-mail Invitation” 266; “Internet”(specify web site) 268; or “Other” (please specify) 270. The listedchoices represent types of marketing promotions

[0037] The company representative 20 is also prompted to answer thequestion “How did the marketing promotion make the customer want to callor come to the marketing event?” 272. To answer this question thecompany representative 20 has the option of selecting “Article” 274;“Advertisement” 282; “Direct Mail” 290; and “Internet Web Site” 298. Ifthe company representative 20 selects “Article” 274, the companyrepresentative 20 is prompted to determine why the customer lead 12became interested in the article, by selecting one of the followingchoices based on the customer lead's 12 answer: “Looked like aninteresting article” 276; “Liked what they (customer lead 12) read” 278;or “Wanted answers to their questions about what they read” 280.

[0038] If the customer lead 12 selects advertisement 282, the companyrepresentative 20 may select one of the following options based on thecustomer's answer: “Looked like a neat-looking, innovativeadvertisement” 284; “Liked what they read” 286; or “Wanted answers totheir questions about what they read” 288. If the company representative20 selects direct mail invitation 290, the company representative 20 mayselect one of the following items based on the customer lead's 12answer: “Looked like nice, quality, innovative direct mail piece” 292;“Liked what they read” 294; or “Wanted answers to their questions aboutwhat they read” 296. If the company representative 20 selects Internetweb site 298, the company representative 20 may select one of thefollowing items based on the customer lead's answer: “Looked likeneat-looking, innovative announcement” 300; “Liked what they read” 302;or “Wanted answers to their questions about what they read” 304.

[0039] The next section of the lead management form 24, 26 is entitledContact Information 306. This section 306 contains contact data relatingto the customer lead 12, so that in the event the customer lead 12 needsto be reached, the customer lead 12 can be easily located. Specifically,in the contact information section 306, the company representative 20enters the following information regarding the customer lead 12: firstname 308, last name 310, title/position of the customer lead 12 withinthe company 312, job responsibilities of the customer lead 314, companyname where the customer lead 12 is employed 316. Additionally, in thecontact information 306 section, the company representative 20 entersthe type of business 318 the customer lead 12 is in, and information forcontacting the customer lead 12 which includes: e-mail address 320,internet address 322, street address 324, city 326, state 328, country330, zip code 332, telephone number 334, fax number 336, mobile phonenumber 338, and pager number 340.

[0040] The next section that the company representative 20 is asked toenter information relating to the customer lead 12 is entitled SolutionsInformation 342. In this section, the company representative 20 entersinformation about the customer lead 12 that includes: theproduct/service name 344 which is determined for each marketingcampaign, product/service number 346, company representative name 348,and feedback/comments 350, which will be divided into two categories,positive and negative.

[0041] The final section of the lead management form 24, 26 is entitledFollow-Up/Tracking information 352. In this section, the companyrepresentative 20 enters information relating to the following:follow-up date: 354. The follow-up priority 356 is automaticallycompleted based upon the BANT score 254 with one of the followingoptions: hot business opportunity 358, very warm lead 360, warm lead362, lukewarm lead 364, cold lead 366. In the event this particularcustomer lead has been directed to the wrong group, the companyrepresentative can check misdirected lead 368. The misdirected lead 368option allows the company representative 20 to direct the customer lead12 to another group. This is done by filling in an alternate group nameto which the customer lead 12 should be directed 370. This alternategroup is notified by an automatically generated e-mail notification oralert message. Additionally, the company representative 20 is promptedto enter additional information relating to the customer lead 12 thatincludes follow-up person 372; follow-up status 374; whether thecustomer lead 12 was referred to someone else 376; and if so, to whom378 and the reason why 380. The company representative 20 is alsoprompted by the lead management form 24, 26 to enter informationrelating to whether a follow-up call has been scheduled 382, whether afollow-up meeting was scheduled and information sent 384, whethercontract negotiations have been initiated 386, whether a sale or dealhas been reached 388, and if so for how much 390, and any otherpertinent information 392, which must be specifically stated 394.

[0042] The Follow-up/Tracking Information 352 is integrated with LotusNotes® calendar feature for scheduling individual or group follow-upitems. The company representative 20 is permitted to append newFollow-up/Tracking Information 352 to the customer lead profile record32 and is allowed to group the information 352 together by customer lead12 or other data fields. The Follow-up/Tracking Information 352 isrepeated as necessary for the different required follow-up status actionitems. The various follow-up status action items are linked together toallow tracking of the progress of the customer lead 12. Appropriateperson(s) are automatically notified by email or an action alert whenfollow-up status is updated.

[0043] Turning back to FIG. 1, once the company representative 20finishes entering data into the lead management form 24, 26, theinformation contained in lead management form 24, 26 automaticallysynchronizes with the information already in the lead managementdatabase 44 and populates the form accordingly 32. If the seller orcompany representative 20 is on-site with a customer lead 12 at a tradeshow or other business event or meeting, the seller or companyrepresentative 20 may use a voice recorder to capture the leadqualification information 30 or may scan the customer lead's 12 businesscard using a business card scanner like the one sold under the trademarkCardScan® and/or scan the lead or customer's identification card using ascanner 28. The data from these scanning devices automaticallysynchronizes 32 with the data in the lead management database 44 andpopulates the lead management form 24, 26 in real time with contactinformation and other information encrypted on the badge oridentification card. This may require the card scanning software and theidentification card scanning software to convert the captured data intoASCII text that is then converted to HTML.

[0044] After the customer lead 12 data capture options have beenutilized, the data from each is merged together to create a completelead or customer profile 32 which is stored in the lead managementdatabase 44. Lead priority is then calculated in real time by a BANTalgorithm 36 that automatically calculates a BANT score ranking from 0to 5. The BANT score is a numerical identifier that ranks the priorityof customer lead 12, where the higher the BANT score, the higher thelead priority. For example, a BANT score of 5 would be considered a“hot” lead 38, a BANT score of 3 would be considered a “warm” lead 40,and a BANT score of 0 would be considered a “cold” lead 42 anddistributed accordingly. Once the BANT score is determined, selecteddata fields in the Follow-Up/Tracking section of the lead managementform 24, 26, whose data is contingent upon the BANT score, are populated

[0045] A further aspect of the customer lead management system 10 is toprovide global access and distribution of the customer lead datacontained in the lead management database 44 via “push” technology suchas by automatic e-mail. “Push technology” is computer or electronicbased technology that automatically distributes information when atriggering event has occurred. A user does not need to log in or connectto a server to check for updated or changed information. When theinformation has been updated, the server automatically notifies the userby “pushing” the information out to the user. Here, the customer leadmanagement system 10 sends (“pushes”) the customer lead data to aspecific company representative 20, if certain criteria specified by thecompany representative 20, such as goods/services needed, have beenselected by the customer lead 12. Alternatively, the companyrepresentative 20 can view the profiles for the customer leads 12 storedin the lead management database 44 via the lead management Intranet site22. Passwords are assigned 46 to access the lead management intranet 22according to the seller's organizational needs, i.e. market segmentdivisions, levels of authority, sales territories, business partners,etc. Reports can be generated for tracking purposes of customer leadprogress, conversion of customer leads to sales, customer satisfactionlevels, and marketing and product development purposes to tabulatedemographic information and product and/or service features and benefitinformation. These reports would be distributed by the Lead ManagementIntranet Site 34.

[0046] In addition, information from the customer lead managementdatabase 44 can be exported into other company marketing databases.

[0047] The foregoing disclosure is illustrative of the present inventionand is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although one or moreembodiments of the invention have been described, persons of ordinaryskill in the art will readily appreciate that numerous modificationscould be made without departing from the scope and spirit of thedisclosed invention. As such, it should be understood that all suchmodifications are intended to be included within the scope of thisinvention. The written description and drawings illustrate the presentinvention and are not to be construed as limited to the specificembodiments disclosed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed is:
 1. A system formanaging customer lead information comprising: a customer leadinformation database having a plurality of customer lead profilerecords; a means for acquiring customer lead information from a customerlead; a means for inputting the acquired customer lead information intothe customer lead information database via at least one of an intranetand an internet; a means for creating or updating a customer leadprofile record based on the inputted customer lead information; a meansfor determining a customer lead priority based on information in thecustomer lead profile record; a means for adding the customer leadpriority to the customer lead profile record; a means for storing thecustomer lead profile record in the customer lead information data base;and a means for distributing, via at least one of an intranet and aninternet, an updated customer lead profile record.
 2. The systemaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a means for automaticallynotifying at least one designated person when selected portions of aselected customer lead profile record changes.
 3. The system accordingto claim 2, wherein the means for automatically notifying at least onedesignated person when selected portions of a selected customer leadprofile record changes comprises a means for e-mailing the at least onedesignated person.
 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the meansfor acquiring customer lead information is selected from the groupconsisting of a customer needs feedback form to be completed by acustomer lead and a lead management form to be completed by a companyrepresentative.
 5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the customerneeds feedback form to be completed by a customer lead comprises atleast one web page.
 6. The system according to claim 4, wherein the leadmanagement form to be completed by a company representative comprises atleast one web page.
 7. The system according to claim 6, wherein themeans for inputting the acquired customer lead information comprises ameans for entering information into the lead management form.
 8. Thesystem according to claim 7, wherein the means for entering informationinto the lead management form comprises at least one of: a microcassetterecorder; a portable computer with voice recognition software; a digitalportable dictation system with voice recognition software, a hand-heldelectronic input device; a portable computer with network access; abusiness card scanner; a magnetic card reader; a bar code scanner; anidentification card scanner; and a trade show badge scanner.
 9. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein the means for determining acustomer lead priority comprises a means for analyzing the informationin the customer lead profile record for information related to at leastone of budget, authority, needs and time.
 10. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the means for inputting the acquired customer leadinformation comprises at least one of: a microcassette recorder; aportable computer with voice recognition software; a digital portabledictation system with voice recognition software, a hand-held electronicinput device; a portable computer with network access; a business cardscanner; a magnetic card reader; a bar code scanner; an identificationcard scanner; and a trade show badge scanner.
 11. The system accordingto claim 1, further comprising: a means for responding to informationrequests from the customer lead.
 12. A system for managing customer leadinformation comprising: a customer lead information database having aplurality of customer lead profile records; a means for acquiringcustomer lead information from a customer lead, the means for acquiringcustomer lead information being selected from the group consisting of acustomer needs feedback form to be completed by a customer lead and alead management form to be completed by a company representative, thecustomer needs feedback form comprising at least one web page, the leadmanagement form comprising at least one web page; a means for inputtingthe acquired customer lead information into the customer leadinformation database via at least one of an intranet and an internet; ameans for creating or updating a customer lead profile record based onthe inputted customer lead information; a means for determining acustomer lead priority based on information in the customer lead profilerecord; a means for adding the customer lead priority to the customerlead profile record; a means for storing the customer lead profilerecord in the customer lead information database; a means fordistributing, via at least one of an intranet and an internet, anupdated customer lead profile record; and a means for automaticallynotifying at least one designated person when selected portions of aselected customer lead profile record changes.
 13. The system accordingto claim 12, wherein the means for inputting the acquired customer leadinformation comprises at least one of: a microcassette recorder; aportable computer with voice recognition software; a digital portabledictation system with voice recognition software, a hand-held electronicinput device; a portable computer with network access; a business cardscanner; a magnetic card reader; a bar code scanner; an identificationcard scanner; and a trade show badge scanner.
 14. The system accordingto claim 12, wherein the means for automatically notifying at least onedesignated person when selected portions of a selected customer leadprofile record changes comprises a means for e-mailing the at least onedesignated person.
 15. The system according to claim 12, wherein themeans for determining a customer lead priority comprises a means foranalyzing the information in the customer lead profile record forinformation related to at least one of budget, authority, needs andtime.
 16. A method for managing customer lead information comprising thesteps of: providing a customer lead information database having aplurality of customer lead profile records; acquiring customer leadinformation from a customer lead; inputting the acquired customer leadinformation into the customer lead information database via at least oneof an intranet and an internet; creating or updating a customer leadprofile record based on the inputted customer lead information;determining a customer lead priority based on information in thecustomer lead profile record; adding the customer lead priority to thecustomer lead profile record; storing the customer lead profile recordin the customer lead information database; and distributing, via atleast one of an intranet or an internet, an updated customer leadprofile record.
 17. The method according to claim 16, furthercomprising: notifying at least one designated person when selectedportions of a selected customer lead profile record changes.
 18. Themethod according to claim 16, wherein the step of acquiring customerlead information comprises at least one of: a customer enteringinformation into a customer needs feedback form, the customer needsfeedback form comprising at least one web page; and a companyrepresentative entering information into a lead management form, thelead management form comprising at least one web page.
 19. The methodaccording to claim 18, wherein the step of entering information into alead management form comprises at least one of: recording customer leadinformation with a microcassette recorder; recording customer leadinformation with a portable computer having voice recognition software;recording customer lead information with a digital portable dictationsystem having voice recognition software; entering customer leadinformation on a hand-held electronic input device; entering customerlead information on a portable computer with network access; scanningcustomer lead information with a business card scanner; scanningcustomer lead information with a magnetic card reader; scanning customerlead information with a bar code scanner; scanning customer leadinformation with an identification card scanner; and scanning customerlead information with a trade show badge scanner.
 20. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the step of determining the lead prioritycomprises: selecting at least one of budget related, authority related,needs related and timing related information from the customer leadinformation; and analyzing the selected information.